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John Struthers
John Struthers (18 July 1776 - 30 July 1853) was a Scottish poet. Life Struthers was born at Longcalderwood, East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, the son of Elizabeth (Scott) and William Struthers, shoemaker. on 18 July 1776. Joanna Baillie and her mother and her sister, then resident at Longcalderwood, were interested in the child, read and played to him, and heard him reading in turn.Bayne, 63. After acting as cowherd and farm-servant till the age of 15, he learned the trade of shoemaking in Glasgow, and settled at Longcalderwood in 1793 to work for Glasgow employers. He was twice married, on 24 July 1798 and in 1819, and had families by both wives. In 1801 he settled in Glasgow, working at his trade till 1819. Reading widely and writing considerably, he soon gained a high literary reputation, and reluctantly abandoned shoemaking to become editorial reader successively for the firms of Khull, Blackie, & Co. and Archibald Fullarton & Co., Glasgow. Through Joanna Baillie, Scott came to know Struthers, who happily depicts his brilliant friend as "possessed of a frank and open heart, an unclouded understanding, and a benevolence that embraced the world" (My Own Life, p. cii). Scott aided Struthers in negotiations with Constable the publisher. In 1833 Struthers was appointed librarian of Stirling's public library, Glasgow; he filled this situation for about 15 years. He died in Glasgow. Writing Struthers early printed a small volume of poems, but, straightway repenting, burnt the whole impression, "with the exception of a few copies recklessly given into the hands of his acquaintances." In 1803 he published Anticipation, a vigorous and successful war ode, prompted by rumours of Napoleon's impending invasion. In 1804 appeared the author's most popular poem, The Poor Man's Sabbath, of which the fourth edition, with a characteristic preface, was published in 1824. Somewhat digressive and diffuse, the poem is written in fluent Spenserian stanza, and shows an ardent love of nature and rural life, and an enthusiasm for the impressive simplicity of Scottish church services. Soon after appeared The Sabbath: A poem, by James Grahame (1765–1811), whom the Dramatic Mirror unjustifiably charged with plagiarism from The Poor Man's Sabbath. The Peasant's Death, 1806, is a realistic and touching pendant to The Poor Man's Sabbath. In 1811 appeared The Winter Day, a fairly successful delineation of nature's sterner moods, followed in 1814 by Poems: Moral and religious. In 1816 Struthers published anonymously a discriminating and suggestive Essay on the State of the Labouring Poor, with some Hints for its Improvement. About the same date he edited, with biographical preface, Selections from the Poems of William Muir. A pamphlet entitled Tekel, sharply criticising voluntaryism, is another undated product of this time. The Plough, 1818, written in Spenserian stanza, is too ambitiously conceived, but has notable idylic passages. In 1819 appeared The Harp of Caledonia (3 vols. 18mo), a good collection of Scottish songs, with an appended essay on Scottish song-writers. For this work the editor received aid from Scott, Joanna Baillie, and Mrs. John Hunter. Two years later appeared a similar anthology called The British Minstrel (Glasgow, 1821, 2 vols. 12mo). During his career as publishers' reader Struthers annotated a new edition of Wodrow's History of the Church of Scotland, and produced in two volumes, in 1827, a History of Scotland from the Union. He was engaged on a third volume at his death. In 1836 appeared his fine descriptive poem Dychmont, begun in youth and completed in later life. Besides miscellaneous, ecclesiastical, and other pamphlets, Struthers wrote many of the lives in Chambers's Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, and also contributed to the Christian Instructor. His collected poems — in 2 volumes, with a somewhat discursive but valuable autobiography — appeared in 1850 and again in 1854. Publications Poetry *''Poems on Various Subjects''. Glasgow: 1801. *''Anticipation: A poem on the threatened invasion'' (anonymous). Glasgow: Mennons, 1804.Anticipation: A poem on the threatened invasion, Google Books, Web, Dec. 8, 2016. *''The Poor Man's Sabbath: A poem''. 1804; 2nd edition, Glasgow: W. Lang, for M. Ogle, 1808; 7th edition, Glasgow: Geo. Gaillie, 1832. *''The Peasant's Death; or, A visit to the house of mourning; and other poems''. Duncan Mackenzie, for M. Ogle, et al, 1806. *''The Poor Man's Sabbath, with other poems''. 3rd edition, Edinburgh: J. Ballantyne, for A. Constable and J. Murray, 1808; Boston: J. Belcher, 1813 **corrected & enlarged, Glasgow: G. Richardson, 1839. *''The Winter Day, with other poems''. Glasgow: W. Lang, 1811. *''Poems: Noral and religious''. (2 volumes), Glasgow: W. Lang, 1814. *''The Plough, and other poems''. Glasgow: R. Chapman, for William Turnbull, 1818. *''Poems''. Glasgow: W. Lang, 1824-1826. *''Dychmont: A poem''. Glasgow: Fullerton, 1836. *''Poetical Works''. (2 volumes), Edinburgh & Dublin: A. Fullarton, 1850. Non-fiction *''Essay on the State of the Labouring Poor'' (anonymous). 1816. *''The History of Scotland: From the Union to ... 1748''. (2 volumes), Glasgow: Blackie, Fullerton, 1827-1828. *''Tekel: An examination of the Rev. Mr. Andrew Marshall's sermon, entitled Ecclesiastical establishments considered, and letter to the late Dr. Andrew Thomson''. Glasgow: John Smith & Son / Edinburgh: William Whyte, 1831. *''Scripture Grounds for a National Church ... in a letter to a friend''. Glasgow: printed by james Hedderwick & Son, 1836. Edited *William Muir, Poems on Various Subjects. Glasgow: W. Turnbull, 1818. *''The Harp of Caledonia: A collection of songs ... with an essay''. (3 volumes), Glasgow: Khull, Blackie, for A. Fullerton, 1819-1821. *''The British Minstrel: A selection of ballads''. Glasgow: Khull, Blackie, 1821. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:John Struthers, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 8, 2016. See also *List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Web, Dec. 8, 2016. Notes External links ;Poems *John Struthers (1776-1853) info & 13 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830 *John Struthers at Poetry Nook (23 poems) ;About *John Struthers at Electric Scotland * Struthers, John Category:1776 births Category:1853 deaths Category:19th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Scottish poets Category:Poets Category:People from Lanarkshire